Mojowuq9 After an extensive, but need-to-know rundown of Operation Tango Alpha to the New Legion fleet, Keyes boards his flagship with the androids and Task Force. After all ships are boarded, radio communications are ceased between the fleet as to cover their presence. On a covert signal, the Shadow Strike forces begin their jump to Remnant Space. Around twenty minutes later, reports start flooding in from hijacked Remnant news feeds of massive damage, and a large refugee movement into inner rims of Remnant-controlled galaxies. Shadow Strike had done its job.
Keyes smiles as the news comes in. This gives the perfect opportunity for Hawk. On command, the gigantic carrier in the back of the fleet opens up, and dozens of Remnant-standard civilian craft jump to points of large refugee movement to find the fastest one to the capital. After around an hour of searching, one of the scout craft jumps back to the main fleet, and details the route to Novus Sol. Shortly after, however, the other craft are discovered, forcing them to self destruct. The plot has been uncovered. Keyes curses. No matter. Hawk has been successfully carried out. The full fleet readies for the FTL jump to Novus Sol.
Keyes stares out into hyperspace with a steely determination. The Pistol on his hip is heavy with purpose. His best friend, Helac Siegel, sits next to him, ready to take out their archenemy once and for all. Keyes looks over to her, and she quickly slips a small communications unit away. He pretends like he didn't notice. A nav officer calls out, startling Keyes. "Commander, we are approaching Novus Sol. Prepare to exit hyperspace." Steeling himself, Keyes stands up, and takes control of the ship. His fleet flies ahead of him. In the last moment of calm before the storm, Keyes closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
He opens his eyes to see a full-out warzone. Contact has begun. The New Imperials, a puppet of the Remnants, have deployed the full extent of their forces to protect their superiors. Keyes sighs in frustration. He didn't expect this. Turbolasers fizzle against the shields of Keyes' forces. They have the technology of the Remnants, but they choose to stick to their own, for some absurd reason. After a little while, Keyes realizes that they are only a minor setback, the first of many challenges of Contact. Their shields aren't even close to Remnant-grade, making deployment of Skiffs unnecessary. A force of six Bullets and twelve Tombs slowly wipes through the disorganized Imperial fleet, revealing the largest fleet Keyes has ever seen. "Oh god..."
Thirteen Guardians, captained by Buchanan's Council of Thirteen, are in the lead. Expecting a blast from all thirteen superlasers, Keyes orders all ships to focus all energy into the shields. Instead of unleashing hell upon the New Legion, the Guardians part, and thousands of fighters spill forth, rapidly encroaching upon the New Legion. In response, Keyes deploys Fallen Angels to tank their damage. What Keyes failed to see was the Guardians turning broadside, giving them access to a long range arsenal of annihilation. He realizes that fact when the left wing of one of the Fallen Angels comes flying towards his craft as a high velocity. Fortunately, Keyes activates lateral boosters, sending the shrapnel flying into the endless void. After a while, all of the fighters and Fallen Angels are gone, and the true space battle begins.
All forces on both sides advance, and the void is painted with the energy of a million suns, unleashed in the form of millions of cannon shots, ion beams, and conventional lasers. Slicers attach onto Keyes' forces, ripping them to shreds. Keyes is forced to watch as Suppressors unleash beams of fire, and Scars unleash devastating waves of Buzz Droids. This is a losing battle. Heedless, the New Legion pushes on, approaching Novus Sol in an attempt to draw Buchanan into the battle. Suddenly, the Remnant superfleet begins to fall back. A deafening roar is heard as ships around Keyes combust. The Buchanan, flagship of the Remnant fleet, appears in all its glory, immediately activating its superlasers, decimating remaining New Legion forces. Keyes stands up, and walks to his stealth craft, followed by the androids and Task Force. Helac noticeably lags behind. They board the craft, and release. All crew abandon ship as according to the plan, and the flagship is engulfed in the green flames of the Buchanan's superlasers. Contact has been completed, but at what cost?
Leech begins. Hidden snipers blow open the airlock, and the ship docks, as planned. Once they board the ship, Keyes once again sees Helac slip a communicator back into her pocket.
The penultimate part of this op, Tango Alpha, commences. Before advancing, Keyes puts on some Old Terran music, hacking into the PA system. Grinning, Keyes rushes into the mass of incoming soldiers, followed by his companions. The fight of a lifetime. 6 vs. 5,000+. The androids immediately gun down most of the soldiers, ruining the fun. Unfortunately, the same thing happened with every encounter with Remnant solders. At this point, Keyes has turned off the music. It's just not worth it at this point. However, the squad eventually reaches a large, extravagant door, undoubtedly to Buchanan's Command Deck. The androids unleash their munitions, but the guards stretch out their hands, and the bullets spin around, homing back towards the androids at insane velocities, ripping all five to pieces. "Alright... um... that's new." Keyes stands there with no words. "Welp." He reaches for his belt. He winks. "Nice knowing ya." Keyes whips out a thermal detonator, throws it at the guards, and then he and his task force members dodge out of the way. A roar is heard as the door blasts open to the command room. Upon entering, there is only one person: Buchanan. He's piloting the ship by himself. How? Keyes turns around to address his task force, but someone's missing. Halec.
Buchanan turns around, notices the group, and groans in frustration. "Seriously? Again, Jameson? I honestly thought you would learn after I fucking demolished you last time. But no! You just had to come in, blow up my door, and kill my friends. Again! Could you just give me time to annihilate your forces, please? Is that really too much to ask? Whatever. Let's at least make the playing field level." Without even moving, Buchanan begins to wipe the Task Force from existence.
Keyes looks back to see his team folding in on themselves, creating super-dense points in space, which quickly snap out of existence. It's a 1v1. Again.
Buchanan cracks his neck, and stretches out his hands. "Last chance, Jameson." His voice becomes distorted. "Last. Chance." Keyes holds his ground. Buchanan's voice returns to normal for a second. "Well, I tried." Buchanan closes his eyes. In his left, mechanical hand, a massive, serrated scythe appears. In his right hand, a ball of strange energy appears. He closes his fist, and the energy courses through his veins. He laughs. But... it doesn't sound human anymore. While Buchanan is summoning his weapons, Keyes pulls out the new Pistol, and aims. He shoots. With an amused look on his face, Buchanan simply steps aside, and the bullet reappears in the chamber. "Nope." Keyes shoots again, and again. Heedless, Buchanan dances out of the way, having fun. After 50 shots, Buchanan looks worn out from dodging. An opportunity. Keyes aims and fires, not hearing the person running in front of him. It's Halec. But's too late. The shot has already been fired. "Halec, no!" She falls to the ground, and then fades away. Buchanan laughs, and laughs, and laughs. No more bullets. Keyes drops to the floor, weeping. "Well," Buchanan says. "she did her part. Well, goodbye. Keyes is back in NL space.*
